Aaron Rodgers‘ return to the Green Bay Packers likely ended the window for Jordan Love to be the team’s heir apparent.
Rodgers may not play out the entirety of his four-year megadeal, but Love’s cheap rookie contract will surely be over by the time Rodgers calls it a career.
Rodgers was one of the few quarterbacks with uncertain futures to return to his original team. Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan all found new homes this offseason. As we approach the 2022 NFL Draft, it seems the quarterback waters have calmed, and most QB-needy teams will wait to find their quarterback of the future from the college ranks.
But the draft is a tricky beast. The board may not fall the way teams hope, and they’ll be at the mercy of the rest of the league if they really want a player. And many teams that claim they’re happy with their guy under center are probably lying. The Packers have a quarterback the same age as the top prospects with two NFL seasons under his belt just sitting there as a backup. Could Green Bay move Love before, or during, the draft?
The Packers seem content to keep Love around and see what he can do, but CEO Mark Murphy didn’t sound particularly enthused about it, either.
“I think this preseason is important for him,” Murphy said on a recent Packast with Tom Grossi. “We think he can be a good player, but we haven’t really seen enough. So I think this preseason will be good for him.”
Despite two years in the league, there still isn’t a lot we know about Jordan Love the NFL player. Preseason didn’t exist in 2020, and Love only saw limited action in 2021. His one start against the Kansas City Chiefs had both good and bad, though he didn’t play nearly as poorly as some would have you believe. His appearance against the Detroit Lions didn’t show us much, as Matt LaFleur benched most of his starters by then, leaving Love with a skeleton crew.
Right now, a team trading for Love would be banking on upside and traits over proven production — and that’s pretty much what you’re getting when you draft a player. But in Love, you’re getting a quarterback with desirable traits that will benefit from two years of NFL coaching and conditioning and learning from one of the best quarterbacks of all time.
The top options in this draft are around the same age as Love AND still need to adjust to the NFL. Love is younger than Kenny Pickett and only a few months older than Matt Corral and Malik Willis. Love still has two years left on his rookie deal, plus the fifth-year option.
While more preseason time would give Love a chance to show off against NFL-level competition, the deeper into his rookie deal he gets, the harder he’ll be to trade. Shopping Love’s traits to QB-needy teams should be done while his deal still has value.
And the league is more quarterback-needy than it lets on. The Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, and the New York Giants may seem content to work with who they have. Still, some of these teams are actively fooling themselves while others need to search long term. And teams like the Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions don’t have good options at all. Maybe some teams will wait until next year, but why wait? Why not bring a little Love into your organization?
The draft is all projection. No one knows anything. But one thing the league agrees with is this isn’t a great quarterback class. Many of the top options are older and will still need to adjust to the NFL. There isn’t a lot of QB talent to go around.
The Saints recently traded some serious capital for an extra first-rounder, and there’s a good chance they did it for QB ammo. Carolina is undoubtedly drafting someone. Pittsburgh probably isn’t committing to Mitchell Trubisky long-term. Who knows what Detroit will do at any given time? A team might not get the guy they want. Trading for Love, who could likely go for a Day 2 pick, can get you your man and let you focus on other needs.
And while Seattle claims they’re content with Drew Lock, can he even beat out Geno Smith after losing the starting job in Denver to Teddy Bridgewater? The Seahawks may be playing hardball, but they need a quarterback. Coincidentally, the Packers could use one of those wide receivers Seattle is totally not selling.
Jordan Love got put in an awkward situation when the Packers drafted him through no fault of his own. Now, it’s apparent he isn’t the future quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Love has done everything right the last two years, and he deserves a shot somewhere else.
Green Bay will never have a better opportunity to trade Love for a return on their initial investment than this offseason. And despite what teams may say, more teams need quarterbacks than there are available quarterbacks. The closer we get to the draft, the more likely the Packers could move Love, and it’s the best move for both parties.
